


Plans for Mechanicsburg

by khilari, Persephone_Kore



Series: Agatha's Bad Plan AU [3]
Category: Girl Genius
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-13
Updated: 2013-08-13
Packaged: 2017-12-23 07:56:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/923827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khilari/pseuds/khilari, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persephone_Kore/pseuds/Persephone_Kore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Sequel to "Agatha's Bad Plan" and "Making Better Plans". After Agatha's attempt to save Passholdt and subsequent rescue by the Baron, it's time to work out the details of her taking control of Mechanicsburg. It is suspected that Heterodynes make terrible vassals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Plans for Mechanicsburg

* * *

It had been a quiet morning until the message arrived. The first sign that this was something more than another set of orders designed to keep them away from Castle Wulfenbach while suspected of still being upset about their Heterodyne’s death was that Jorgi was the one to turn up with the message. He was not a courier — he had, in fact, a command of his own — but somehow managed to grab courier duty whenever he thought the message likely to get a sufficiently interesting reaction.

Khrizhan took the message; Goomblast and Zog were clearly also alerted by Jorgi’s presence because they came to read over his shoulder instead of waiting for him to finish.

_Agatha Heterodyne, daughter of Bill and Lucrezia Heterodyne, is entering into an alliance with the Wulfenbach Empire. Baron Wulfenbach requests your presence during the negotiations._

The rest of the terse message was a date and time.

‘Requests,’ said Goomblast. ‘Dot’s goot, then?’

‘He knows uz,’ said Khrizhan. The implicit tact in requesting when they were still under his command as yet and could be ordered probably was a good sign. He recognised their loyalty would be to a Heterodyne and was conceding them gracefully. How much of that was due to this alliance though? He thought back to their short tea party — she’d been a very sweet girl, scared but polite, almost entirely without the strength of personality expected of a Heterodyne. How equal could an alliance between her and Klaus Wulfenbach really be? Had Klaus found a way to hold onto their allegiance more strongly rather than letting them go?

‘Hyu tink she really iz?’ Zog asked.

‘Ve know she’s a Heterodyne,’ said Khrizhan.

‘Ve dun know she’s _dot_ vun,’ Zog pointed out. ‘Could still be a cousin or a by-blow.’

You’d certainly expect any child of Bill and Lucrezia to have a strong personality and it would be in Klaus’s interest to make her claim to legitimacy as strong as possible if he could control her. But Khrizhan still felt — or maybe hoped — that she really was of the main Heterodyne line.

‘She iz de only Heterodyne ve haff,’ Goomblast rumbled.

‘Yez,’ said Khrizhan, folding the message. ‘Ve go look out for her, either vay.’

‘Yez,’ said Zog. He turned to Jorgi, still watching their discussion with interest. ‘Und now hyu tell uz der rest.’

‘Passholdt voz overrun vit a new type ov revenant. She tried to tek it vit three Jägers, a swordvoman und a cat. Tryink to save anyvun left.’ Jorgi grinned, taking in the effect of his words as the three generals stared in shock.

Zog whistled between his fangs, ‘Hokay, she iz Master Bill’s daughter.’

Khrizhan tapped the paper with a claw, resisting the urge to unfold and reread it as if it might say something else in light of this new information. Encouraging that she apparently did have a strong personality after all, although if she took after her father he wondered how she’d take to Mechanicsburg. After so long without a Heterodyne at all it was going to be very hard on the younger Jägers if they had to deal with one who distrusted them again. So perhaps still more encouraging that she’d taken Jägers, although he was going to have something to say to the Jägers that had let their sole Heterodyne nearly get herself killed (he knew which Jägers, too, after Jenka’s latest report).

‘Vell,’ he said. ‘Zis should be interesting.’

* * *

Agatha was first surprised when the Baron informed her that he’d sent for the Jägergenerals, and then exasperated that he hadn’t mentioned this to her in advance. She’d have liked to talk to them ahead of time. Although the schedule the Baron offered her actually left a fair amount of time between a brief first meeting and a rather longer second one. She could presumably use that.

‘Obviously,’ said Krosp. ‘The first one looks like basically “Hello, we’re all here and planning to have negotiations instead of trying to kill each other.”’

‘It’s a good thing,’ Zeetha added. ‘Bringing them in, and the schedule. Getting in more experienced people on your side and not trying to rush you too much. Although you’re right, it would have been more polite to talk to you about it first.’

Agatha sighed and tried not to feel daunted. ‘Obviously there’s a lot I don’t know.’ She put down the clank she was working on and looked thoughtfully toward the bookshelves. She was quartered in a school for rulers’ heirs. Of course, the reference materials might show some bias from having been selected by the Baron, but they still ought to be _useful_. ‘I think I have some reading to do.’

By the time the Jägergenerals arrived, Agatha had blazed through most of the political curriculum and had once or twice run Zeetha and Krosp out of the room with her constant humming -- although the Jägers came in, instead, to gaze at her until she broke off to ask if the noise was bothering them and then practically fell over themselves to assure her it was not.

Her entire party joined the Baron in the hangar to meet the airship, along with Burgermeister Zuken, a rather quiet Mechanicsburg native and the Baron’s appointee. Dimo, Maxim, and Oggie looked both excited and nervous. Krosp skulked around her feet on all fours until the Baron said, ‘You may as well quit pretending to be a normal cat. You’re Vapnoople’s last project, aren’t you?’

Krosp straightened up and glared at him. ‘I am Agatha’s king.’

The Baron blinked and looked at Agatha. ‘A political complication I confess I had not foreseen.’ There might have been a glint of humour in the grey eyes.

‘He said he’d been scheduled for termination,’ Agatha said, bracing herself. ‘You’re _not_ going to do that.’

‘I did promise your party wouldn’t be harmed,’ said the Baron.

Right. Now she just felt silly. But Dr. Vapnoople was just an unnerving subject in general. ‘Okay. Good.’

Krosp affected calm by lounging against the side of her leg as if leaning on a wall. This did not make her feel _less_ silly.

The Baron looked at Krosp. ‘Going by the reports I had on you, you were playing dumb. Perhaps not the best way to avoid termination, although I expect it won you your chance to escape. And you’re with Agatha now?’

‘You’d destroyed everything _else_ he made,’ Krosp said. ‘And yes, I am.’

‘Most of the constructs he made were capable of neither self-determination nor loyalty transference,’ said the Baron, continuing to regard Krosp with analytical interest. ‘I’m not entirely sure which I’m seeing here, but it’s definitely one or the other.’

Krosp’s ears twitched. ‘She’s mine. Obviously I’m going to look after her.’

‘Commendable,’ said the Baron, a hint of humour in his voice again.

‘He jumped on a bear for me,’ Agatha said. She didn’t always take Krosp seriously herself, but still. And the Baron already knew he’d been in Passholdt with her.

The Baron raised his eyebrows, looking impressed. ‘Well. Obviously he takes his duties to his subjects seriously.’

The arrival of the airship forestalled further exploration of this topic. The three Jägergenerals emerged, managing to loom even over the Baron, and General Goomblast’s face split into a polite and _extremely_ wide smile at the sight of Agatha.

‘Generals. Welcome back.’ The Baron inclined his head. ‘As I suspect you have been aware for some time, you have a live Heterodyne after all. Shall we discuss her introduction to Mechanicsburg?’

‘It’s good to see you again,’ Agatha added, trying not to feel shy about it. She was a Heterodyne, she reminded herself experimentally. Like the three Jägers who’d followed her to Passholdt, these intimidating creatures were -- apparently -- hers to call on and look after, although she could not think of very many people who seemed less in need of being looked after.

‘Iz goot to see hyu too,’ General Khrizhan said, folding a large hand over her shoulder companionably.

‘Dimo. Maxim. Ognian. Zo,’ General Zog said, ‘hyu found de Heterodyne!’

‘She found uz,’ Ognian admitted. ‘Iz still goot, though! Right?’

Khrizhan looked amused. ‘Ho, yez. Hyu iz not so goot at keeping her out of trouble, but dot is alvays a challenge.’ There was a slightly worrying glint in his eye at that, sword-edged, that seemed to presage a later more serious talk.

Agatha’s cheeks warmed, and she said firmly, ‘They were amazing.’ She then introduced the generals and Zeetha, gracefully avoiding the Baron’s bizarre choice of alias, and Krosp, whom she presented straight-faced as the Emperor of All Cats.

‘Und vhere did hyu get a preedy daughter?’ Zog asked the Baron. ‘Hyu hiding any more kids?’

‘Skifander,’ said the Baron, not very helpfully, ‘and not that I know of. I wasn’t aware she’d come to Europe until very recently.’

‘Hyu kids chust keep coming out of nowhere,’ said Zog. ‘Und not chust them, hey?’ he added to Agatha. ‘Hyu generation is verra hard to keep track of.’

‘I’m starting to think it’s hereditary,’ Agatha said. ‘The previous one seems to have made a habit of vanishing. I’m still rather surprised by the whole thing myself.’

‘Vell, so long as hyu don’t disappear again,’ said Khrizhan, not sounding entirely like he was joking.

She glanced at the Baron. ‘I don’t think I’ll have to.’

‘It would certainly be inconvenient if you did,’ he said. ‘Since I’m intending to sign a treaty with you. Speaking of which.’ He gestured for her to precede him into the room.

Boris Dolokhov was waiting there with copies of the treaty for everyone, looking faintly sour although Agatha had no idea what he’d found to disapprove of. She smiled at him anyway and was obscurely satisfied when his eyebrows unbent slightly in surprise. The chairs around the conference table were large enough to accommodate even General Goomblast comfortably, which meant they were enormous for Agatha. She wasn’t sure whether to feel swamped or enthroned and settled on the latter.

The Baron strode to the head of the table and took his own seat, setting his copy of the treaty down in front of him. ‘We are here to formally recognise the intention to treat between Agatha Heterodyne and myself. She will be negotiating as a future ruler of Mechanicsburg, contingent on her recognition as its rightful ruler. She will also be negotiating as the liege lord of the Jägerkin.’ He turned to the generals. ‘Do you recognise her?’

‘Ve do so,’ Khrizhan said.

‘Then our contract is ended, by the agreed terms,’ said Klaus, getting approving nods from the Jägergenerals. ‘I ask that the Jägerkin continue to serve until this new treaty is in place.’

‘Unless ve are ordered otherwise,’ Khrizhan said, with an inquiring look at Agatha. ‘Ve do so. Hyu haff treated the Jägerkin vell.’

‘Good to hear,’ said Agatha. ‘And that’s fine.’ Part of negotiating in good faith, here -- she wasn’t going to demand the Jägers suddenly drop everything, which would be a chaotically bad start and they’d already had enough of _that_ , and the Baron wasn’t going to suddenly try to send them somewhere inconvenient. Although she rather thought she could veto that, anyway. ‘There’s no need to do anything abrupt.’ She had some ideas on what happened afterward, actually, but wanted to consult the Jägergenerals before saying anything.

She laced her fingers together and looked at each of the generals in turn. ‘I think I should clarify at this point that I wasn’t just hidden, growing up; I actually didn’t know I _was_ a Heterodyne until recently, and I’ve never actually been to Mechanicsburg. The evidence that I’m Bill and Lucrezia Heterodyne’s daughter, born after her disappearance, is pretty convincing to me but the witnesses are a bit limited. What exactly is it going to take for Mechanicsburg to recognise me?’

‘Der Kestle vill recognise hyu,’ said Khrizhan. ‘By hyu blood.’

‘If it ken be fixed,’ said Zog dismissively. ‘If not ve ken convince dem hyu iz a Heterodyne at least, und novun else ov der bloodline is challenging hyu for Mechanicsburg.’

‘I can fix the Castle,’ Agatha said. Lilith expected the Castle to help her, and lately she felt like she could fix almost anything mechanical. ‘Although I might still need your word on it, if people think I might have messed with the identification system.’ She paused. ‘Is anybody else challenging me for it at all, at the moment?’

‘Perhaps not at the moment,’ said Burgermeister Zuken. ‘The Baron and I are aware of thirty-four fraudulent lost Heterodynes who reached Mechanicsburg in the past fifteen years.’

Agatha blinked. ‘What happened to them?’

Zuken cleared his throat. ‘If they were lucky, a quick death.’

‘Might haff been quicker if ve’d been there,’ Zog said and Goomblast nudged him heavily, tilting a glance at Agatha. She wondered if that was _why_ there were no Jägers left in Mechanicsburg, or part of it.

‘Der Kestle doesn’t like impostors,’ said Khrizhan.

‘Neither does the rest of the town,’ the Baron said dryly. ‘But I don’t expect a problem.’

‘I assume you have _some_ alternative in mind if this doesn’t go well, Herr Baron,’ said Dolokhov, frowning. ‘Assuming “not well” translates to something less than a messy death.’

The Baron glanced at Agatha, then looked at Dolokhov. ‘In that case Mechanicsburg would remain part of the Empire on the current terms, and I’d offer her a job.’

Agatha’s mouth quirked. ‘What, as Gil’s lab assistant again?’

‘Good heavens, no, you’d have your own laboratory.’ A brief pause. ‘Although from his reactions so far, I imagine you’d have the run of his as well.’

‘Is either of you taking this contingency plan seriously?’ Dolokhov asked.

Agatha felt a little bit sorry for him -- he _was_ trying to help -- but she found herself exchanging a look with the Baron and they both simultaneously said, ‘Not very.’

Dolokhov looked exasperated. The Jägers looked amused. Agatha cleared her throat and added formally, ‘Thank you all for the clarification. I acknowledge the fealty of the Jägerkin and my obligation to them in turn, and have the honour of negotiating as their liege lord -- and conditionally as Mechanicsburg’s future ruler -- with Baron Wulfenbach.’

The Baron inclined his head to her. ‘Then negotiations are officially opened. You each have a copy of the proposed treaty to read through, we will meet again to discuss any amendments.’

* * *

Agatha arranged to meet the Jägergenerals later on, in their quarters, once they’d all had a chance to read and think it over. She did so herself back in her room in the school, draped upside-down over the edge of her bed, while Zeetha and Krosp filched the pages she was done with and offered commentary. An attempt to add her own notes from that position led to washing spilt ink out of her hair, so she built a new pen.

When General Khrizhan opened the door to let her in for their discussion, Agatha was abruptly reminded of their interesting approach to decorating, although somehow none of it seemed as shocking this time. What struck her more forcibly, actually, was that the room smelt amazing. She didn’t think she’d been _that_ obvious about it, but General Khrizhan correctly interpreted her appreciative inhalation and said, ‘General Goomblast has been cookink again.’

‘It smells delicious,’ Agatha said. Then, ‘I suspect I should apologise for disappearing on you this last time. At the time I couldn’t come up with anything better to do.’

‘Ve hadn’t tried to tok to hyu about hyu being a Heterodyne,’ Khrizhan said. ‘Tings moved faster den ve expected.’

‘Lilith -- ah, Judy -- was just _about_ to tell me when we ran into the Baron. It was a bit hectic.’ She took the seat he offered her. Goomblast offered her meat pastries and tea cakes again; this time, she took two of each without demurring, and noted that Goomblast and Khrizhan both made sure to secure their own servings before Zog got at the platter. Agatha rubbed a hand over her face and began, ‘There’s some background that we should probably go over, some of which we’re... _not_ writing down. I’m not sure how much of it the three of you already know.’

‘Not dot much,’ said Goomblast. ‘Ve know dot Ponch und Judy vere hidng hyu. Und for uz to not know about hyu, hyu must haff been born after Lucrezia vanished.’

Agatha nodded. ‘When they recover there’s a lot I want to ask. I do know Uncle Barry brought me to them, but I was very young at the time. I remember him being generally very worried about things. Our last letter from him was ten years ago and I’m afraid I don’t know what he was trying to accomplish, at the time. But, ah--’ She sighed. ‘My best guess is that he was going after agents of the Other as secretly as possible.’

‘He voz alive then,’ said Khrizhan, shaking his head. ‘There vere -- are -- agents of de Other? De Other voz not vorking alone? Ve heard about new revenants at Passholdt.’

Agatha bit her lip. She didn’t think the Jägergenerals were likely to react worse to this information than, say, the Baron, but it was still unnerving to say. ‘Those might actually be somebody else’s work. But the Baron’s been finding people who look and act normal but set off the wasp-eaters he’s been working on. One of them swears _I’m_ the Other.’ She held up a hand and raised her voice as all of them started to surge to their feet. ‘He thinks it was actually Lucrezia.’

‘She voz krezy enuff for dot,’ said Zog, growling slightly.

‘New vays for de bogz to sqveez minds,’ said Goomblast, huge mouth turning down. ‘Und now somevun iz mekking more of dem!’

Agatha was starting to wonder, rather painfully, just how besotted her father had _been_ , since none of the Jägers she’d talked to seemed to find this very surprising news. ‘Yes. And that’s not something I can stand aside for.’

‘Goot!’ said Khrizhan. ‘Ve fight de Other’s bogz if hyu giff us der vord.’

‘But next time tek more den three ov uz,’ said Goomblast.

Agatha blushed. ‘Believe me, I’m planning on it.’ She cleared her throat. ‘Right now there’s not anything obvious to fight. But this is why, for example, the treaty refers to housing specialised laboratories and troops in Mechanicsburg.’

‘Zo, hyu vant to accept all dot, no qvestion,’ said Goomblast, picking up his copy and making a note in surprisingly neat handwriting. ‘To protect de tings needed against de Other.’

‘Yes.’ She found herself smiling a little. ‘I’ve been through the wasp-eater labs. They’re these eight-legged weasel things with the most ingenious--’ She stopped. ‘Um. Not the time, sorry.’

Khrizhan picked up his own copy of the treaty, written on here and there in a bold, angular hand. ‘He vants hyu to protect hiz pipple, und hyu iz hokay vit dot, ven ve iz all against de Other. But he vants Mechanicsburg to belong to der Wulfenbachs? He haff Mechanicsburg remaining vit der Pax.’

Agatha caught the skin of her lower lip between her teeth and put her plate down. ‘Well, I hardly expected him to propose we leave it.’ She was going to have to be careful here. She’d wanted to go ahead and talk to the Jägers. They were... her people, something that struck and resonated deep inside her, catching at both her sense of responsibility and the hunger of a misfit child for belonging. They’d been remade by her ancestors to be other people’s nightmares and they were acknowledging her by blood-right even though she was not exactly what they’d signed on for. She could remember being terrified of them, but it seemed oddly distant, although they were still rather _overwhelming_. They were one of the biggest reasons the Baron was taking her seriously, and they were going to be in the teeth of battle if it came to that. (And they’d want to be.)

But they were not her _only_ people. And the ones who would give allegiance to her were not the only ones she cared about. And she was still working through what _she_ thought and felt about this, and what was prudent, and while it was important to consult them, adding in people who had been opinionated on the subject for literally several centuries was possibly not the best thing for her balance. ‘Mechanicsburg is, literally, right in the middle of the Empire,’ she added. ‘Also, I don’t actually _have_ it yet.’

‘Pfft, hyu vill have it,’ said Zog. ‘Und vhen hyu do hyu vant to bow to somevun? To pay taxes? Pipple iz meant to pay _uz_ not to attack dem, ve do not pay dem.’

 _Oh boy._ Agatha paused over that one for a moment and saw General Khrizhan shift, as if he thought he might need to intervene. She leaned forward, elbows on her knees. ‘General Zog,’ she said, ‘Let me clarify something. I’ll do it if I have to, but I don’t especially _want_ to go to war. Whatever exact agreement we reach with Baron Wulfenbach, we are not going to be _subject_ to the peace he imposes so much as helping to enforce it.’

Zog settled back looking distinctly disappointed. ‘No var at all?’

Okay, that could have gone worse. ‘There probably _will_ be when we figure out who’s making wasps. Unless it turns out the stealth revenants are really all left over from the Other, and Passholdt involved an accident with a botched engine or something. But I seriously doubt that.’ She looked around at them. ‘In the meantime, though -- this is something I wasn’t going to discuss with the Baron without talking to you first. I’m sure you’ll all be glad to see Mechanicsburg again, but I get the idea if I take a thousand Jägers into town and ask you to stay put, you’re all going to go stir crazy. Should I suggest letting him continue to hire some of you?’

The generals looked at each other. ‘Iz not goot for der boys to be bored,’ said Khrizhan, to nods from the other two. ‘He haff treated uz vell, if hyu are fighting alongside him, und if hyu iz staying out of der fighting hyuself it might be for der best.’

‘Hyu vill be stayink out of der fightink?’ Zog asked, sounding not displeased but somewhat surprised.

‘I--’ Agatha frowned. She didn’t especially like fighting, but the idea of staying out of the way while other people did it _on her orders_ was troubling. On the other hand, she might very well be more useful behind the lines building things and -- oh. _No one else of the bloodline is challenging you for Mechanicsburg._ Unless they found Uncle Barry, there was no one else of the bloodline the Jägers were sworn to at all. ‘That depends on where I think I can do the most good, honestly. But that might be making sure Mechanicsburg stays safe.’

Goomblast reached over to give her a large but gentle pat on the back. ‘Iz for der best, for now.’ Then, as an afterthought, ‘Hyu vant to keep Dimo, Maxim und Oggie as personal guards? Der vuns who left vill be returning now, und vill be returned to their places vit der pack. But dey vould like to stay vit hyu, Hy tink.’

They’d found her -- okay, she’d found them -- they’d recognised her, they’d cleared themselves and Jenka out of Zumzum with what was on reflection a rather masterful combination of theatrics and information-passing, and they’d followed her into Passholdt and not reproached her since. ‘I’d like that, if they want to.’

‘Hy vill ask,’ said Goomblast, smiling at her, ‘but dey vill say yez. Hyu trust dem, so effen failink to keep hyu safe Hy tink they did vell.’

‘They kept me alive,’ Agatha said quietly. ‘Practically untouched.’ She’d come out of Passholdt with _fewer_ cuts and bruises than she’d gone in, because the ones from training had started to heal.

‘Dey iz goot boys,’ said Khrizhan, with an air of reassuring her. ‘Iz hard for Jägers to leaf der pack.’

‘I’m going to have a lot to learn about you,’ Agatha reflected aloud. ‘For now though we should probably get back to the treaty.’ And the big question was still Zog’s. Was she going to be Baron Wulfenbach’s vassal? (An even more jarring question: was she eventually going to be _Gil’s_?) ‘...I wonder what he was going to propose if the Heterodyne Boys came back.’

‘He might haff expected an argument,’ said Khrizhan, chuckling. ‘Since he did vot dey spent a lot ov time avoiding in using _uz_ to tek over Europa. He vould not haff expected dem to follow him, but he might haff expected to tok dem around.’

‘Hmm.’ That was an interesting point. Of course, she wasn’t _them_ and didn’t expect to be treated like she was, but it was still informative. ‘Okay, I have two questions about that. Did it worry you that it wasn’t what they’d have done?’ She was careful with her tone; they were willing to support her, now, and she wanted to understand the decision, not complain about it.

There was a long pause, the generals exchanging speaking glances, and it was Goomblast who spoke when one of them did. ‘Heterodynes kom und go. Ve luff dem, alvays, but dey vill not alvays vant der tings their ancestors vanted. Master Bill und Master Barry vanted unusual tings. Ve did not expect to get dem back, ve did not know vot a new Heterodyne might vant. Und der Baron had been their friend, ve did not tink it unlikely dey vould haff understood his reasons. He voz not using uz to raid, vhich dey vould haff hated.’ He settled back, eyes still fixed on her. ‘Und ve haff to tek care ov der pack. Heterodynes alvays care for uz, but ve also care for each other und ve are de oldest. Effen if a Heterodyne had not come, ve should haff kept der younger vuns alive und done our best for dem vitout breaking der Jägertroth.’

‘That makes sense. I can only imagine it must be very... odd sometimes, being sworn to a family when the generations change.’ Especially so drastically. ‘Let alone when they go missing.’

‘Ve iz long used to it,’ said Khrizhan. ‘Missink is bad. Change ve ken deal vit.’

‘I guess you would be.’ She paused to nibble one of the half-forgotten pastries, which made her wonder _how_ she could have forgotten about it. ‘Okay, the second question -- what do you think the Baron would have tried to talk them around _to_ , exactly?’

‘Der Baron meks tings official,’ said Khrizhan, gesturing at his copy of the treaty, ‘but dey voz fine vit pipple beink nize in case dey turned up othervise. Dey might not haff liked der _owning_ pipple’s towns, but dey vould not haff liked der fightink.’

‘Ven der Other vanished pipple vere left veak und scared -- easy pickings,’ Zog put in with a predatory looking grin. ‘Ve did not raid, because dey vould haff hated it und might still kom beck. Und because Mechanicsburg voz vulnerable. Others did und dey vould not haff liked _dot_ either. Der Baron stopped it.’

Agatha nodded thoughtfully. Whatever else was true or not about the Heterodyne Boys, neither fans nor friends thought they’d have ever balked at fighting to protect people, and for all the Baron terrified people (including Adam and Lilith, and _what_ had been going on there?) he did care about that and did not, for example, go around randomly deciding to merge large segments of the population with centipedes against their will. (That had actually been a Transylvania Polygnostic student whose ambitions had been forestalled by the reminder that he had a long essay due the next morning, but the point was, it was a pretty typical hazard.)

‘I appreciate that part too, honestly.’ Agatha contemplated asking the Baron what he would have asked Bill or Barry to do. It might not be particularly useful, but it would probably be interesting. ‘Okay... maybe the Baron wouldn’t have asked Bill Heterodyne to swear fealty, but the reasons for that don’t necessarily apply to me. I assume he’s not going to think “I don’t want to” is an adequate reason, and -- he’s being a lot more helpful than he’d have to be, and we’re trying to cooperate on dealing with the new wasps. This isn’t something I want to fight over.’ She propped her chin on her hand. ‘So, is there any conceivable way to convince him it’s a good idea?’

‘If hyu iz tinking about saying yez becuaz hyu iz scared to say no, hyu iz already tinking like vun of his beaten enemies,’ said Zog. ‘Hyu say not vanting to iz not enuff as if hyu don’t.’

‘Not especially, but it’s not--’ Agatha paused for a moment. Was she thinking that way, really, or was that only General Zog’s perspective? She was kind of in the habit of fearing the Baron, although it was starting to fade. And it really wasn’t something she was willing to go to war over -- and if she _were_ , she rather thought going up against the Empire with the Jägers (most of whom weren’t here) but not Mechanicsburg would make roughly as much tactical sense as Passholdt -- but she didn’t really think bringing it up in negotiations would come to _that_.

‘I thought I was going to have to go to Mechanicsburg basically to escape from him,’ she said slowly. ‘Now he’s willing to help me get there... and mostly trust that I won’t make him regret it. I am still a bit afraid of him, but even putting that aside, I’d really rather keep this on a cooperative basis. From his side of things it would _probably_ be a little awkward to agree that some town in the heart of the Empire suddenly isn’t part of it anymore, or... is part of it on substantially different terms from everybody else.’ Although it was on different terms anyway, wasn’t it? Baron Wulfenbach contributed to construction, repair, laboratory facilities, and a variety of other projects in various towns, but he did not normally help them arrange to be capable of _shutting him out_ even if they agreed not to do it. ‘So it would be easier if I could present some reason it’s good for him too.’

‘Iz not goot for him,’ said Khrizhan. ‘But negotiating iz meant to vork for hyu too. Hyu demand someting better for hyu und vorse for him, hyu may haff to mek concessions elsevhere. Or hyu let him haff zis und ask concessions in turn, if it iz not important enuff to hyu to giff tings for it. Sounds like hyu tink he iz mekking zo many concessions already hyu ken’t ask for more, but he von’t haff drafted hiz own treaty favouring hyu on purpose.’ He tapped the treaty with a claw. ‘Assume zis iz vot he vants und vill bargain for.’

Agatha _could_ think of a couple of advantages to the Baron, actually -- goodwill from Mechanicsburg was likely to make a difference going forward, and while it presented issues as a precedent, it would probably make a better story and that was likely to matter. But Khrizhan made a good point and... she certainly shouldn’t be thinking as if the default situation were still being taken prisoner, which she supposed somewhere in the back of her mind she might be. ‘Okay,’ she said, ‘you’re right. And if we’re thinking ally, not vassal--’ She broke off, thoughtful, and picked up her teacup. ‘I should probably review some of the precedents from the Storm King, actually.’

‘Vot, marrying him?’ said Zog.

Agatha choked on her tea. ‘Not _that_ one! His actual allies!’

‘Hyu could marry hiz son instead,’ Zog suggested cheerfully. ‘Vun generation und ve haff a Heterodyne Empire anyvay.’

Agatha pressed her hand to a suddenly overheated cheek. ‘He actually proposed, but I turned him down and then Adam hit him over the head while we were arguing.’ She was not entirely sure why she felt compelled to explain this.

‘Zo, haz he changed hiz mind after dot?’ Zog asked.

Agatha opened her mouth, then shut it again. ‘I’m not sure,’ she said faintly. ‘I’m not sure _I_ have either, but I’ll, um, keep it in mind.’ He had actually been very polite this time around, and he took her critiques of his work not with the grace of most of the circus but with genuine enthusiasm, even when she told him his atmospheric ionisation engines were going to melt if he insisted on building them with condensers. (Come to think of it, he had written ‘Agatha’ on all the bolts. Maybe he did still want to marry her.)

‘If hyu vant a precedent from der Storm King’s allies it vould be leaving vhen he voz no longer useful,’ said Khrizhan.

Agatha raised her eyebrows. She supposed it wasn’t surprising for Jägers to be cynical about the Storm King’s reign and fall. She had the general idea that some of it had been the loss of a common cause and some of it had been thinking he’d basically lost his mind. ‘Well, sometimes bad examples are also instructive,’ she said, ‘but I’ll grant that doesn’t sound promising.’

‘Depends on hyu point of view,’ said Khrizhan. ‘Not zo promising for _him_.’

Agatha frowned at him. ‘One reason I want to be careful what I agree to is that _I’m_ not going back on it.’

He leant forward, putting his hands on her shoulders and engulfing most of her upper arms, meeting her eyes seriously. ‘Den don’t agree to obey. Hyu vill break dot vhether hyu intend to or not. As soon as he iz not asking tings hyu already vant to do.’

Agatha started to open her mouth, then shut it so rapidly her teeth clicked. She had honestly never thought of herself as particularly insubordinate. She’d obeyed Dr. Beetle, and sneaking off to Heterodyne shows was about as close as she’d come to ever defying Adam and Lilith. (And what would they think about what she was doing now?) She’d obeyed Master Payne.

Right up until she couldn’t anymore. (At which point two other people who considered themselves more or less in charge of her had come with her.) And she had reasons for her misgivings about being in the Baron’s power. So... sooner or later, that was probably going to come up with him. ‘Right again,’ she said after a moment. ‘Let’s start rewriting.’

* * *

With the Jägergenerals ranged on either side of her, Agatha presented the Baron, Dolokhov, and Burgermeister Zuken with copies of the proposed changes and watched them read. She saw Dolokhov’s eyes widen first in consternation. The Baron’s hand curled into a fist a moment later, but he kept going grimly through the rest of the text. Zuken’s eyes flicked up to her a few times, but his expression never wavered from a sort of relaxed interest that she found oddly disconcerting.

‘Your counterproposal,’ the Baron finally said, in the tones of a Spark defied but at unusually low volume, ‘is that once I’ve helped you repair Castle Heterodyne and establish yourself as the ruler of Mechanicsburg, you want to _leave the Empire_?’

Agatha’s pulse picked up, but she replied evenly, ‘Mechanicsburg never attacked any of the Empire’s territories. It joined the Empire peaceably and under terms indicating you were holding it in trust until a Heterodyne came back.’

‘The Heterodyne I believed I would be returning it to was either Bill or Barry. Not a young and untried ruler.’

‘And I would love to know why Uncle Barry didn’t tell you he was back, but I’m the one here. I _am_ grateful to have advice from people with more experience.’ Although she was not promising to always take it, either. Even from the generals.

‘Yet you think you could run your town better with no one having authority over you. Despite your inexperience and --’ He flipped through the treaty again. ‘The fact that you actually seem content to obey the Empire’s laws.’

‘Most of them are pretty reasonable as they stand.’ She thought that got a flicker of surprise through the irritation. ‘So yes.’

‘The towns around Mechanicsburg would not be reassured at having it return to being a law unto itself with an unknown Heterodyne in control. Nor would it help people have confidence in the Empire for me to allow it.’

‘The towns around Mechanicsburg are likely to be worried about its being fully fortified again no matter _what_ I agree to, until they get used to me. The people of the Empire will see that you keep your word. That’s a kind of confidence too.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I admit I can see where you wouldn’t care for the precedent.’

‘No,’ he said, frowning -- well, frowning _harder_ , ‘I do not like the precedent of having independent enclaves right in the middle of the Empire.’

‘Even ones that are friendlier than most of the places you’ve pushed into joining.’

‘Places that would have been far harder to push into joining with that precedent set.’

‘I’m sure.’

‘Not to mention that you are planning on using Empire resources to establish yourself and then leave before you have to pay taxes towards anyone else’s needs. Or that you’ve agreed to house crucial projects and then set things up so I would have to send my scientists into an area not under my control.’

‘I believe most of the point of this plan was that Mechanicsburg _cannot_ be practically controlled from outside. And if necessary I’ll perform the repairs without your help.’ It would be harder, but she didn’t think Mechanicsburg was likely to be low on tools.

That surprised him. ‘You are seriously willing to give up any help in fixing the Castle rather than accept a position as part of the Pax Transylvania?’

Agatha swallowed. ‘I’d rather not, but yes.’

‘Why do you want to leave the Empire this badly?’

She folded her hands in her lap. They weren’t shaking, but she felt like the world was humming, like a string pulled very suddenly taut. ‘Because... I’m not willing to make you promises I won’t keep. I want us to cooperate, I really do. But I’ve realised I _can’t_ agree to obey you even against my better judgement and mean it.’

‘And you believe your better judgement would be an improvement on mine? I have been holding this Empire together for sixteen years and _your_ judgement is to break it up over a stubborn point of honour rather than believe that if we disagreed on matters of policy I would be more likely to be right.’

‘More likely, maybe.’ More likely to maintain his priorities, almost certainly. And she wouldn’t actually dissolve the Empire, given the power to do so with a word. Agatha looked down at the treaty, thinking not about the words in it but about waking up on Castle Wulfenbach and about fleeing from it. ‘But I’ve been on the wrong side of some of your decisions before, Herr Baron.’

‘It is necessary to maintain a hold over Sparks, especially ones in breakthrough. I was acting on incorrect information, but you were unharmed.’

Agatha raised her eyes to his, suddenly exasperated past trying to remain diplomatic. ‘Herr Baron, I can think of at least three variably _good_ reasons to have taken me into custody, based on what you knew or thought. You could have decided to question me about Dr. Beetle’s experiments. You could have done it because you thought I’d wanted to send a clank after you and Gil. You even could have thought I was not safe being left home alone, what with wandering around a machine shop in my underwear and being attacked by strange men.’ She slapped a hand abruptly down on the table. ‘Instead you took me as a hostage against the man you imagined was my lover. This would not exactly impress me even if it had been true, but as it was, I woke up in a room with one of the two men who had robbed me that morning.’ Agatha dropped her voice into a viciously sweet register. ‘Are you reminding me of all this as an example of your good judgement?’

‘I said it was _necessary_ to control Sparks in breakthrough, not pleasant.’ The Baron’s voice was getting louder, now, although he still wasn’t shouting. ‘There are limited options if I cannot get a hold on them to which they have enough emotional attachment to restrain themselves. Would you prefer I killed them? Or developed something like that locket of yours?’

‘I’d prefer you weren’t taking people prisoner regardless of whether they’d actually done anything,’ Agatha snapped. ‘And considering how many of the breakthrough horror stories end with most of the new Spark’s friends and family _dead_ , I’m not sure I believe taking hostages is actually effective!’

‘Sometimes it isn’t, but I use what I have!’ the Baron snapped back.

‘You are making enemies of people who don’t have to be!’ There were the _other_ stories, ones she couldn’t tell him without giving her friends in the circus away, or at least making him wonder about them. Breakthrough wasn’t normally the best time for making rational decisions -- Gil seemed to be right that she’d almost ‘eased through’ instead -- but she suspected there were village Sparks who wouldn’t _mind_ being taken.

‘Including you?’ His voice was suddenly slower, if not exactly calmer, no longer snapping but intent and with the harmonics of the Spark rolling through it in an undertone. ‘You are angry enough about that to refuse to be part of the Empire?’

Agatha stopped, fingers curling, nails biting into her palms, and made herself take a slow breath and let some of the heat behind her eyes wisp away as she exhaled. ‘I am not your enemy, Herr Baron.’ Perhaps if she hadn’t said that between her teeth it would be more convincing. She flattened her hands on the table again. ‘And if I didn’t think you were trying to be reasonable--’ Then this would have been _spectacularly_ stupid. ‘--Then I am not sure I’d actually have had the sense not to start ranting at you,’ she said ruefully, ‘but I can hope.’

He looked away, rubbing at the bridge of his nose, visibly calming himself as well. ‘What is it you fear I’d order you to do that makes you think leaving is a better option?’

‘I don’t know.’ She sighed. ‘It’s not like I could stop you from doing the same thing again either way, so going along with it isn’t the issue. And you might even try not to insist on anything you knew I’d object to strongly. But something would come up eventually, and even if you had a good reason you probably wouldn’t bother explaining it, because you officially wouldn’t have to.’

‘And you wouldn’t be willing to trust that I did have a good reason, whether you knew about it or not.’ He sounded less angry, now, but the calculating tone in his voice wasn’t any more reassuring. ‘So you’d rather have this argument now than later.’

Agatha frowned. ‘We _wouldn’t_ have the argument later. That’s the problem. You’d insist and I’d have to either go along with it, or refuse _after_ it was part of the agreement and breaking that would be a worse problem.’

‘It’s certainly true that having an agreement with Mechanicsburg and having it broken would be a worse problem,’ he said, carefully. ‘It would come very close to being a declaration of war. I’m not sure whether you don’t realise this, or whether that’s what you are trying to avoid. But if so it could also be avoided by promising obedience and _meaning_ it. A great many rulers have done so. There is no need to refuse to establish yourself as the equal of any of them. The Jägers are proud of their Heterodynes’ independence, but also of their deadliness and unpredictability. This matter is too important to act out of pride, no matter how they encourage it.’

‘Unpredictability,’ Agatha said ruefully. She made herself keep her eyes on the Baron, but she was intensely aware of the Jägergenerals beside her and the fact that they were still leaving her to speak for all of them. ‘I think if anything they predict me a little too well. This isn’t just pride any more than it’s just anger.’ She was almost sure of that. No, she _was_. ‘If they hadn’t said something that made me think it through, think about... about walking off when Master Payne said we wouldn’t go to Passholdt, think about _this_ when I’m fairly sure Adam and Lilith would be trying to snatch me off the airship again if they could... then most likely I would have promised and I would have meant it and... eventually, I’d still run into something where I couldn’t just assume you’re right.’

‘Passholdt is not exactly a case in favour of ignoring others’ authority, but I certainly don’t expect you to bow to everybody’s judgement.’ He didn’t add _just mine_ , but he didn’t really need to.

‘The problem with Passholdt was more ignoring other people’s _advice_ ,’ Agatha admitted, ‘which I will try to stop doing.’ A slightly wry glance at General Khrizhan. She was fairly sure the Jägergenerals’ opinion was that, in the moment, it would have been better for the Jägers to let Zeetha hogtie her, which might fall on the other side of the argument (although that involved balancing the oath to obey and to protect, so perhaps not).

The Baron sighed. ‘You are exceedingly stubborn. But you get that from your father.’

And he was _counting_ on her taking after Bill, in other ways. ‘What _were_ you going to do if he came back, anyway?’ Give Mechanicsburg back, yes, but he’d still have had the enclave problem.

‘Probably started with a screaming argument.’

Agatha blinked. She had not been expecting that answer. As she’d put a fair amount of time into preparing for his objections to Mechanicsburg leaving the Empire, it was the most surprising part of the conversation so far. But she supposed that wasn’t an unlikely reaction to his taking up continental conquest. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘we already had that.’

He let out a rather startled laugh. ‘I suppose we did.’

The laugh was sort of reassuring, if only because it was not particularly maniacal. Agatha allowed herself to smile minutely. ‘I’d ask what next, but I suppose that might have depended on how the argument went. Herr Baron....’ She rested her hands on the table again. ‘I still want to be your ally. I don’t think lying to you would be a good start.’

‘I do appreciate that having a treaty on terms you wouldn’t keep would be worse than useless. And _knowing_ you feel that way I’d be constantly waiting for it to fail.’ He frowned, at the treaty not at Agatha. ‘I don’t like this, but I may have to concede. At least if you have the authority to argue back I believe you’ll do that instead of fighting.’

Agatha blinked. ‘Well, yes, of course I would.’ That was part of the _point_.

‘You’d be surprised how rarely that’s a safe assumption.’

‘How rarely do you try it?’ Agatha asked, then shook her head when he shot her an irritated look. ‘No, I’m sorry, I take your point on that one.’ She had had enough time to observe the professors and students at Transylvania Polygnostic, and those were the _calm_ ones. Relatively speaking.

‘First you don’t want to join my Empire and now you’re trying to reform it,’ he muttered, but he didn’t sound like he was either really serious or seriously annoyed (and Agatha was fairly sure he hadn’t seen the heavily annotated book of Empire law in her room). ‘I’ll accept your secession, because I don’t believe I’m going to talk you out of it and I don’t want to either drag this out through several sessions trying or give up on this treaty.’

Agatha felt suddenly as if she had just finished being much more nervous than she’d thought she was at the time. She hadn’t been willing to give up on the treaty _either_ , nor to go to war over it, and while she had thought the Baron would be reluctant to do either one, she hadn’t been sure what he _would_ do. ‘Thank you, Herr Baron.’ ...She also wasn’t entirely sure if that was the appropriate response or not. Oh well.

‘As for other terms,’ he continued, moving on briskly now that he’d made up his mind. ‘I notice you’re giving me the option of continuing to hire a certain number of Jägers at their current pay. Is that a concession to make up for seceding, or a way to avoid having a town full of bored Jägers?’

Agatha paused. ‘I think that one qualifies as mutually beneficial.’

‘I’d be happy to continue to hire the Jägerkin on those terms. For the rest you’ve accepted the terms set out, aside from changes related to leaving the Empire. And I note you’ve already added terms giving scientists I send to you diplomatic immunity to make up for holding Mechanicsburg under your own laws.’ The look he gave her was, unexpectedly, faintly approving, either of the fairness of not making him bargain for that or the foresight in knowing he would want it. ‘Is there anything else we need to address?’

‘I don’t think so.’ The changes related to leaving the Empire weren’t exactly simple, but they were largely designed to maintain the relationships that already existed. Mechanicsburg was very much a trading town at this point, and it wouldn’t be in anybody’s interest for its people to decide they missed the raiding days.

‘I will have this redrafted and the new version sent to you for your approval, then. If you approve our next meeting will be to sign it.’

Agatha nodded and stood. ‘I look forward to that, Herr Baron.’

* * *

It soothed Klaus’s impatience somewhat that there were no further sticking points or surprises in the negotiations. Of course, it would have made his life easier to keep Mechanicsburg as part of the Empire... but, then again, maybe it balanced out. Having Mechanicsburg enthusiastic under a friendly Heterodyne rather than quietly resentful _might_ actually make up for the political consequences of allowing a hole in the Empire, and Agatha had made a point of being otherwise cooperative. Almost docile. It probably wasn’t meant to be unsettling.

He was somewhat surprised to hear raised voices as he approached the meeting room for the signing.

‘I still think you should wear armour!’ Zeetha was insisting.

‘I am not wearing armour,’ Agatha replied with some heat. ‘I’m not going in looking like a warlord. They might get the wrong impression.’ A brief pause. ‘Although I’m not sure if I’m worried about scaring them or getting their hopes up.’

Getting their hopes up, definitely, Klaus thought. Scaring them would take rather more than that.

‘Besides,’ Agatha added reflectively, ‘I don’t even _have_ armour.’

Zeetha looked up and past her, spotting Klaus down the corridor, and he smiled faintly at her and closed the distance. ‘She doesn’t mean real armour,’ he informed Agatha. ‘The Skifandrian idea of armour involves vaguely martial jewellery.’ He had tried to argue the point with Zantabraxus. It had not gone well.

‘Vaguely?!’ Zeetha said indignantly.

Agatha looked like she wasn’t sure she should laugh. ‘That might be another reason to avoid it.’

‘Still, there’s no harm in dressing for a good entrance,’ said Klaus. Somehow, he had not considered the possibility of offering the new Heterodyne _fashion advice_. Still, he intended to present her to Mechanicsburg. He preferred to see it done effectively. ‘If there’s one thing Mechanicsburgers do expect from their Heterodynes -- good or bad -- it’s a show.’

Zeetha looked triumphant. Agatha looked dubious. Perhaps she found the topic as surreal as he did. ‘What are _you_ suggesting? I assume not martial jewellery.’

‘No. And not actual armour either,’ said Klaus, amused. ‘Something with a bit of flair. And your sigil.’ He paused. ‘I do still have your locket.’ He’d _fixed_ it, too, although he still wasn’t quite sure what it was he’d fixed it to do. ‘Although I’ll understand if you’d rather have some other form of your sigil.’

Agatha froze, going very slightly paler. ‘I... would like it back, I think, but I don’t intend to put it back _on_.’ A slight frown. ‘At least not without removing the mechanism.’

‘I’ve fixed the mechanism,’ Klaus admitted. ‘Not with the intention of using it on you, but to see how it had worked at all. I’m...still confused, honestly. I’m sure I put it back together as it’s supposed to be, but I don’t see how it would block anyone’s Spark.’

Agatha looked away and folded her arms, shoulders slightly hunched. ‘It was very effective,’ she said stiffly, then glanced back up at him, frowning. ‘Although I didn’t know it had been broken.’

‘I retrieved it that way,’ Klaus answered. ‘And I’ll return it to you -- with or without the mechanism -- but if you don’t want to wear it, you should still have the sigil on your clothes somewhere.’

‘I’ll plan on that. Thank you.’ There was a slightly faraway look in her eyes, a familiar curiosity. ‘Maybe I should look at the mechanism.’ She shook herself as if shedding the thought. ‘My wardrobe is a little limited right now, anyway.’

‘You’re not going to go for skulls, either, are you?’ Zeetha asked, grinning in a way that emphasised her small fangs.

Agatha clapped a hand to her forehead. ‘No!’

‘I do have tailors on board,’ Klaus offered, resisting the impulse to smile over Zeetha’s teasing. ‘Perhaps a visit to one would be in order.’

‘Thank you.’ Agatha cast another dubious look at Zeetha. ‘Especially if they don’t share your daughter’s taste in fashion.’

‘I think you’d be more likely to have that problem with tailors from Mechanicsburg,’ Zeetha said cheerfully.

‘Quite,’ said Klaus. Although maybe not quite so much now it had been sixteen years since they’d last had to cater to Jäger tastes.

‘Okay then,’ said Agatha, looking a little bemused but apparently resigning herself to the possibility of alarming fashion advice. ‘I may end up making a clank that does clothing design,’ she muttered.

Boris arrived in time to hear this and look mildly puzzled, a change from slightly flustered at arriving later than the main participants (even though they were all early). The Jägergenerals presumably overheard it from somewhat farther off, but of course, that wouldn’t even register as strange behaviour for them.

This time Boris only placed one copy of the treaty on the table, alongside a pen and an inkstand. The Jägergenerals entering the room made it instantly more crowded, and they grinned at Agatha in approval of her good mood before taking their places. Klaus walked around to stand in front of the treaty, flicking through it to check it was the same as the draft he had read even though he was the person who least needed to fear trickery of that sort. He stepped back when he was done, to let Agatha do the same, and looked towards the door. Where had Gil got to?

Agatha paged through the treaty herself and then looked around. ‘Shouldn’t Gil--’ She broke off as the young man in question came tearing through the door, looking slightly stressed and, for some reason, dripping wet. ‘Uh, what happened to you?’

‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘Had to make some adjustments to the medical equipment. It’s okay now. Zoing’s keeping an eye on them.’ Well, no one present was going to begrudge _that_.

Agatha nodded. ‘Okay, good, but... why are you drenched?’

Gil looked down at himself, as if he had somehow overlooked this. ‘A mimmoth set off the emergency shower.’

‘We can wait a few minutes while you find a towel,’ Klaus suggested, the corner of his mouth twitching. ‘We don’t want you to drip on the treaty.’

Gil went a bit red at this and disappeared again, while Agatha continued reading over the treaty. He returned with drier hair and a fresh coat about the time she finished. ‘I’m ready to sign,’ she said, eyes alight with amusement and -- Klaus wasn’t sure how to feel about this part -- affection as they rested on Gil. ‘No more mimmoths along the way?’

‘Go ahead,’ said Klaus. ‘Now all our witnesses are present.’

She signed her name _Agatha Clay Heterodyne_ , in a neat script that Klaus was somewhat startled to recognise from past missives and reports from Beetleburg, and then stepped back for him to take his turn.

He signed his own _Klaus Wulfenbach_ beneath it, decisively, without showing the mixture of relief and unaccustomed nervous anticipation. Technically the treaty wasn’t official until the witnesses had signed -- and some provisions would not be in effect until Agatha ruled Mechanicsburg -- but _he_ was committed now. There would be no war with the Jägers, over Bill’s daughter either dead or spirited to Mechanicsburg, and with Europa rising to the call of one parent’s legacy or... the other’s. If he’d read her wrong, there might yet be worse.

Agatha dipped her head to him as he looked up. She looked inordinately young, even though Bill had been younger, and she was smiling just a little incredulously. He inclined his head in response. He could not afford to have been wrong.

He handed the pen to Zeetha, wondering whether they were about to get Skifandrian heiroglyphs or whether she’d sign her name in the cyrilic alphabet. She did both, and glanced up to smirk at him when she added _Daughter of Chump_. Klaus rolled his eyes at her. If he’d really meant to live it down, he hadn’t had to use the name for four years. For that matter, after three evidently frustrating years roaming Europa, Zeetha probably deserved to get a little fun out of it.

Gil took his turn with an air of relief that seemed more appropriate to having barely averted a war.

Boris signed neatly and the Jägergenerals took their turns, pen dwarfed in their huge hands, grinning widely with anticipation -- with this done Agatha would be moving on to Mechanicsburg soon. Klaus heard Zog say something under his breath about Gkika and Khrizhan’s grin got substantially wider.

At least now that there was a Heterodyne, Klaus thought wryly, he and the Jägers could all stop pretending he didn’t know what they were up to. ‘We’ll be in Mechanicsburg in two days,’ he announced. They could reach it faster, even in Castle Wulfenbach, but this left time for Burgermeister Zuken to return ahead of them and a few last-minute preparations on both sides.

Agatha glanced up at him. ‘You _are_ still coming personally, then.’

‘Oh, yes.’ He would be presenting an impossible, unlooked-for new Heterodyne to Mechanicsburg _and_ finally getting a chance to work there. All misgivings aside, this was going to be the most fun he’d had in years. ‘I wouldn’t miss it.’

* * *

Agatha evidently took his advice about the tailor without sacrificing what appeared to be a strong personal style preference; she descended to Mechanicsburg wearing the locket after all, presumably deactivated, and an elegantly cut dress with a bronze bodice over green silk, a subtle tone-on-tone trilobite pattern in the weave. Zeetha, to Klaus’s private amusement and despair, wore decorative armour -- although with somewhat more fabric than would have accompanied a formal occasion in Skifander. Gil had stayed behind with Adam and Lilith, disappointed to miss this but unwilling to leave them to anyone else’s care.

When they disembarked just outside the gates and stepped out of the shadow of the outflier, the ‘subtle’ trilobite pattern caught the sun and gleamed like polished bronze. Agatha halted, apparently startled by her own reflective clothing, and muttered, ‘Sweet lightning.’

‘Hadn’t seen it in sunlight?’ Klaus murmured. He really shouldn’t laugh at her.

‘Mm, no.’ Agatha tipped her head back to look at the trilobite-bedecked sculptures surrounding the gate, culminating in a gigantic Grim Reaper embracing the largest of the fossils. ‘But I don’t suppose it even comes close to over-the-top here, does it?’

‘Very little does,’ said Klaus, letting amused affection bleed into his voice now it was aimed at the town instead of her. Non-Heterodyne Sparks tended to either be terrified of Mechanicsburg or somewhat wistfully love it and Klaus was on the latter side. It was a place that adored its Sparks while taking care of itself around them; loving, obedient, responsive but gently impervious to their whims. A town of canny, enthusiastic minions, who provided a place perfectly tailored to be ruled by a Spark but only interested in letting one family of Sparks do so.

Agatha looked up at him consideringly. ‘You like it here, don’t you, even if it’s uncooperative.’

‘Yes. I expect you’ll understand why, soon.’ Lots of Sparks wanted Mechanicsburg, being wanted back by it Agatha wasn’t going to stand a chance.

She glanced up at the Reaper again and raised her eyebrows, then put her shoulders back and walked shimmering ahead of him and Zeetha through the gates. The Jägergenerals and her trio of bodyguards followed and ranged themselves behind her. By this point there had been plenty of time for an expectant crowd to gather, townspeople and tourists alike, although for once the tourists were not being allowed to win the competition for the front rows. Klaus glimpsed what appeared to be a brisk business in boxes to stand on near the back.

Agatha stopped as soon as she reached the light again, even though the people would have parted to let her keep going, and looked around at them, at their faces, and then over their heads to the surrounding buildings and the broken Castle high in the centre of town.

‘I’m Agatha Heterodyne,’ she said after a moment, simply, voice clear and carrying. ‘I’m sorry it’s taken so long.’


End file.
